Sleepwalking
by Within Imagination
Summary: All his life, Uryu Ishida's father was always cold towards him; but what exactly is the reason for this? And why would his father save him from death one night if he didn't care? /one-shot\


This is pretty much just a pointless story I thought up and decided to post. I hope you find some interest in it. Don't worry, I will be writing better stories soon. I apologize for any OOC characters.

...

It was snowing- of that Uryu Ishida was sure.

He stared longingly out the window with a dazed look in his eyes. He had long droned out the teacher's voice- for some reason he just couldn't seem to comprehend the words she was saying. He was so tired...

"Oi! Uryu?"

Uryu jerked his head up as he searched for the owner of the voice that had so harshly awoken him. After a few moments, he realized that said person was no other than Ichigo Kurosaki, who was currently leaning only a few inches away from his face.

"What?" he sighed as he tried to steady his racing heartbeat. "And what are you doing so close to my face?"

Ichigo smirked and leaned back.

"You were asleep," he replied. "Class is over now; everyone else is gone. I got a little worried when I didn't see you getting up to leave."

Uryu gasped slightly as he realized that they were, in fact, the only occupants of the room. Ichigo noted this with a concerned frown.

"What's up with you?" he asked. "It's not like you to fall asleep in class. Usually, you're the most alert one here."

"I- I don't know... I mean, I guess I haven't been getting much sleep lately..." Uryu replied hesitantly. He got up and started to place his books into his bag.

"What do you mean?" Ichigo asked. "Been having nightmares or something?"

"No! No- it's nothing like that..." Uryu replied, still rather hesitant. He finished packing up his books and began to walk towards the door.

"Come on now, Uryu; surely I've gained your trust by now? What's up?" Ichigo asked as they both walked down the hallway, almost deserted except for a few students hurrying to their next classes after realizing they were late. Uryu sighed.

"Well, I think- I think I may be sleepwalking," he mumbled.

"Huh? Sleepwalking?" Ichigo asked, staring wide-eyed at Uryu. "How do you know?"

"Well, it all started a few days ago... I woke up on my living room floor. I was late for school, so I didn't really have time to consider it much; but the next day I woke up on my kitchen floor. Then, this morning, I woke up in the hallway of my apartment complex- and that was only because my neighbor shook me awake!" Uryu replied, getting more agitated as he continued.

"You know, I don't think that sleepwalking is very healthy..." Ichigo started.

"Oh? You don't say?" Uryu said sarcastically.

"Well, sorry! I was just trying to help!" Ichigo yelled. The next few moments were silent except for the sound of their feet as they continued to walk slowly down the hallway.

"Ichigo," Uryu started, staring at the floor, "I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you. I'm just really aggravated. My sleepwalking has me waking up every morning in strange places and totally exhausted. I just don't know what to do..."

"It's all right; I didn't exactly handle it the best way, either," Ichigo replied. "You know, you could always have my dad give you a check up. I bet he could figure out what's going on."

"No, I wouldn't want to be an inconvenience to you..." Uryu replied as they neared the door to their next class. "Besides, I'm sure this is only a temporary thing."

Ichigo sighed. Since they had reached their next class, there wasn't much room for an argument.

"All right, but promise me that if it keeps happening you'll reconsider it?" he asked. "Who knows- if this goes on much longer, you could end up sleepwalking in front of a bus or something!"

Uryu laughed at this.

"Okay, okay! I promise," he replied, opening the door. Needless to say, both teenagers received quite a scolding from an irate teacher after class for being late.

...

Uryu sighed as he got ready for bed that night. _I hope I don't have another sleepwalking session... Ichigo's right- if this keeps up, it could start to get dangerous. But it's not like I can really do anything for it... I mean, what am I supposed to do? Tie myself to the bed?_

He slightly chuckled at this._ Well, let's hope it doesn't come to that!_

With that, he slipped into bed and turned out the light. Outside, it continued to snow...

.

Uryu was awoken when he began to shiver.

_What? Why is it so cold? Did the heater break?_ he thought distantly, still trying to clear his sleep-fogged mind. Looking up blearily, however, he realized that he was not in his nice, warm bed where he should be. Instead of the cotton blanket he was used to, he felt a blanket of snow covering him.

It was completely dark around him leaving him to vaguely wonder where he was.

_Oh, I get it... I must have sleepwalked out here... But- where exactly is here?_ I should get up... These thoughts filled Uryu's head as he tried to stand up. He looked up at the sky as he took a few small steps.

_Hmm... The snow's falling harder than before..._ he thought hazily. Before he had even gone a few feet, he collapsed once more in the snow.

_It's so cold... But I'm so tired... I can barely even feel the snow anymore... Perhaps if I just lie still for a few moments, I'll figure out just where... I... am..._

These were the Quincy's final thoughts before he lost consciousness, snow continuing to cover his body.

...

Ryuken Ishida glanced at the clock as he drove home from a long shift at the hospital.

_2:18 a.m.- Hm, earlier than I thought. Perhaps tonight I will be able to-_ But his thoughts were abruptly halted when he sensed a very familiar reiatsu nearby. _What? Uryu? What is he doing all the way out here?_

As his son's reiatsu grew closer, the white-haired Quincy decided to pull over and see just what his son was doing out in the snow at 2:20 in the morning... and why his reiatsu was slowly weakening. The trail led him to Karakura Park. Pulling his coat a little tighter around his body, Ryuken closed his eyes to better concentrate on the teenager's reiatsu and fully locate him.

_Foolish son, you had better be grateful. This snow is making everything very difficult!_

He sighed as he realized that he was never going to completely locate his son's position with snow coming at him from every direction. Slowly, he began trudging through the snow. He had gone no more than five steps, however, when an object lodged in the snow nearly tripped him. Grunting and looking more closely at the object, Ryuken noticed a few strands of black hair and a hand sticking up from the snow.

_Uryu!_

He quickly began to dig his son's body out of the snow. No sooner had he gotten the upper half uncovered when he checked for a pulse in one of the cold, pale wrists.

_It's still there, but slowing gradually. Breathing- yes, he's still breathing. What is he doing out here, though? Was there a Hollow? No, he has no injuries that I can see..._ Ryuken quickly began to call up the treatments for hypothermia in his mind, all the while still uncovering his son from the snow.

_He's freezing, but not shivering; I don't have much time._

With that, the man finally dislodged his son and carried him back to his car, turning the heat up to high and grabbing a spare blanket from his trunk to cover up the younger Quincy. After securing Uryu in the back seat, Ryuken quickly made his way to the driver's seat and began the drive back to his home.

_I hope that you appreciate this, Uryu, because you're going to have a lot of explaining to do once you wake up._

...

When he finally reached his destination, Ryuken hastily gathered his son from the car and made his way inside.

_He's still not shivering, even though he's pale and cold... I have to warm him up- quickly._

The older Quincy placed his son onto the couch and collected a few blankets from a closet, placing them by the heater. He then took a few towels and began the duty of drying his son off. As the teenager warmed up, Ryuken realized that his clothes were soaked with the snow that melted on them. He entered his bedroom and returned with some articles of clothing.

_Doubtless, they'll be too big on him, but there's nothing really I can do about that._

The man quickly dressed his son in dry clothes, depositing the wet ones by the heater while grabbing the now-warm blankets. He made his way back over to the still figure on the couch, who had, by then, finally started shivering slightly. Ryuken covered him in the warm blankets and began to rub his arms with them in an attempt to warm him up faster. He was rewarded by a slight groan coming from the boy.

"Uryu?" he called. "Can you hear me?"

But the younger Quincy gave him no other response; it seemed he had once more fallen into unconsciousness.

_His skin is getting a little more color to it. Hm- not that it had all that much before. _The man thought as he stopped rubbing his son's arms and laid him down on the couch. Retrieving a pillow from his bedroom, he placed it under Uryu's head and, after checking his vitals once more, decided it was safe for himself to get some rest as well.

.

_Why is it so hot... I can hardly move... What happened? I remember being out in the snow... Where am I..._

_._

Ryuken was awoken from his rest by a quiet moan coming from the other couch. Quickly sitting up, he glanced at the clock. When he realized, however, that it was only 8:00 and his shift didn't start until 12:00, he gave a sigh of relief and walked over to the other couch. Checking Uryu's vitals once more, he discovered that his son had recovered swiftly during the night. His pulse rate and breathing were back to normal and he was no longer as pale as before. The main thing he noticed about his normal pallor, however, was that it contained a slight red tinge around the cheeks. Placing a palm on his son's forehead, Ryuken realized that he had developed a slight fever during the night.

_Of course- his body was trying to warm itself up once it was functioning properly again. It's only natural for him to develop a fever._

Sighing, he stood and gathered a bowl of cool water and a washcloth and returned to the ailing Quincy. After dipping it in the water, he placed the washcloth on his son's forehead in an attempt to bring it down without using antibiotics. This extracted another moan from the teenager as he shifted slightly.

"Uryu?" Ryuken asked. "Can you hear me?"

He inwardly sighed with relief as two dark blue eyes opened halfway.

"Can you hear me?" he asked once more, trying to receive another response.

The blue eyes turned slowly toward him, widening slightly as they realized just who they were looking at.

"Ryuken?" asked a quiet voice.

"You never change, do you?" sighed the older man.

"What happened? What am I doing here?" asked Uryu with a slightly stronger voice as he attempted to sit up.

"You shouldn't try anything too strenuous, yet," Ryuken replied, pushing the teenager back down. "You body was put under much strain last night and you now have a fever."

"Fever?" asked Uryu, before shaking his head and frowning. "What happened? Why am I here?"

"Well, I was actually hoping you would answer that question for me," Ryuken replied sternly. "I found you buried in the snow at Karakura Park very early today. Would you mind enlightening me as to what you were doing there?"

"Karakura Park?" Uryu mused.

_So that's where I was... No wonder it was so dark..._

"Uryu?"

Uryu broke off from his thoughts to look at his father's frowning face.

"Why should I tell you?" he finally replied quietly.

"Why must you always be so stubborn?" Ryuken said as he sighed in frustration. "Well, for starters, I _am_ the one who dug you out of the snow at 2:20 in the morning and kept you alive after that! Don't you think I deserve to know just what's going on?"

Uryu looked down as he realized the truth in his father's words. Sighing deeply, he looked up once more.

"I've been sleepwalking lately. At first, I was only waking up in various places inside my apartment, but now it seems I'm sleepwalking much farther than I originally thought..." he said.

"Sleepwalking?" Ryuken asked.

"Yeah, I know; it's a pretty stupid reason, but it's true," Uryu replied, crossing his arms.

"No- No, it's not a stupid reason at all," Ryuken replied. "Sleepwalking can be a serious danger, Uryu. Not only does it put more stress on your body at night, but it can also lead you to hazardous places. Just how long has this been happening?"

"Only a few days."

"Good. It's better to treat this before it becomes a habit," said Ryuken as he disappeared into the bathroom. When he returned, he was carrying a small box of medication.

"Take one of these when you go to sleep at night; they will make sleepwalking practically impossible by putting you into a deep sleep. By the time this box is empty, you should be able to sleep again without the fear of sleepwalking," he said, placing the box on the table next to the couch.

Uryu simply stared at him with wide eyes. After he realized what he was doing, however, he quickly regained a neutral look.

"Why are you doing this for me?" he asked.

At this, Ryuken was taken aback. Why exactly _was_ he doing this. A tiny voice in the back of his mind called out: _Because your his father_; but the words that actually came out of his mouth were: "Because I'm a doctor."

Uryu looked down to his lap as his father placed the box of pills on it.

"It's my job to take care of people," the older man finished.

_Right. Of course it is._ Uryu thought with a scowl.

"I have to get back to the hospital now," the man lied as he began to put on his coat. "Your clothes should be dry by now."

"My clothes- what?" Uryu looked down wide-eyed, finally realizing that he wasn't in familiar clothes. "You- You-!"

"I'm your father, Uryu; it's nothing I haven't seen before," replied Ryuken as he headed for the door. Opening it, he added: "I expect that you will be gone by the time I come back?"

"Yes," Uryu replied, still slightly embarrassed and looking down at the floor. "Thanks a lot," he added sarcastically as his father closed the door. He threw off the blankets covering him and grabbed his clothes from beside the heater.

...

Ryuken drove through the streets musing on the events that just happened.

_Did I really just make sure my son survived through the night only to leave him immediately in the morning for no reason?_

He sighed. _Yes, I did. I can't afford to show him any feelings; they will only make him weak- I will NOT have a weak son. I promised his grandfather that I would train him if he was unable to; and train him I did. I will not have him become weak now. I have fulfilled that promise._

But even as he continued to drive aimlessly, he remembered something else that plagued his thoughts.

**_You also promised his mother that you would protect him..._**

He thought for a moment. _And protect him I shall..._

_ But only when he cannot protect himself._


End file.
